Say it now: "Thank you." Turn to the person beside and you say it to them. "Thank you." [THANKFULNESS], [UNITY], [GENEROSITY]

The Right Investment in the Right Bank

Posted: 16 Jun 2009

 

What investment is this?

• It's inexpensive by most definitions.
• No taxpayer money is needed.
• No regulations need exist much less even be enforced.
• It takes only a moment of time.
• And its ROI is truly priceless.

What is it? Two words, one phrase: Thank you or thank-you.  The recipient doesn't care how you use it. They just care that you did.

It takes only a moment of your time. And no money from your wallet is needed for it.

Say it now: Thank you. Turn to the person beside and you say it to them. Thank you.

Find a colleague in the hallway. Say it to them Thank you.

Maybe the first few times you do this, you're both surprised: you who said it and they who heard it said. They may look around, puzzled, not sure if they heard it right. If they do, say it again.

They will ask For what?

Be ready with an answer. That means you need to have looked and studied this person. Appreciated them.

There's plenty of reason to make this investment. Too often, we just haven't done the research.

Why is this important?

All of us face serious challenges right now. Some of it's tangible, from external sources like losing a job. Some of it's internal like the fear of losing a job.  We all face more demands for more change for more solutions for more creativity in the coming months.

Our personal, emotional, banks may be running low. OK. They are running low. And the least expensive means to insure we have sufficient emotional capital to keep our personal banks open…is this two-word, one-phrase: Thank you.  Saying it or hearing it. The first always leads to the other.

Eventually, you will want to expand your investment in the emotional banks of those around you. Here are some other investment vehicles using this two-word, one-phrase: Thank you. (Disclaimer: Past returns are not indicators of future performance. But…the compound interest on this investment is the highest, most consistent, of any investments when judged over time and in different markets, economies, companies, relationships.)

• Be specific. Thank them for a specific result.
• Share its meaning - I: Share with them how it helped you.
• Share its meaning - II: Share with them how it will help them.
• Memorialize it: Thank them again later, say at a review if you're a manager or leader.
• Go public: Rock their world and thank them publicly.
• Rock the joint: Do the above…for everyone in the room.
• House party: Goin' old school now, make it a house party. Make saying "thank-you" standard for your company meetings. Open the doors for everyone to invest. Allow time for everyone to say "thank you" to their colleague.

Each time you say this two-word, one-phrase: Thank you, you make a risk-free, no strings attached, investment in that person's emotional bank. At work, the returns from that continue long after those words have stopped echoing in your ears and theirs.

That's the right investment in the right bank.

Now's the right time to do it.

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